NFA girls pick up game by teaching kids

NEWBURGH — In her free time, Newburgh Free Academy senior guard Emily Cook enjoys going to local college basketball games and getting a glimpse of her favorite stars up close.

WILLIAM MONTGOMERY

NEWBURGH — In her free time, Newburgh Free Academy senior guard Emily Cook enjoys going to local college basketball games and getting a glimpse of her favorite stars up close.

"I feel like they're famous people," Cook said. "Even as a senior in high school, going to a college game and watching them, they're like celebrities to me."

Cook also knows how it feels to be on the other side of that equation.

After a 3-7 start to the season that included blowing a pair of double-digit second-half leads in losses at North Rockland's tournament over Christmas break, Newburgh coach Rich Desiderio was looking for a way to shake things up in practice.

At the same time, he was thinking about building the program for the future.

Those ideas merged into the varsity team splitting up and spending time at practice with Newburgh's modified teams at South Middle School and Temple Hill Academy beginning in mid-January.

Just as Cook looks up to college players as celebrities, the Newburgh varsity got the same treatment from the modified players.

"We wanted to reach out and help them as much as we possibly could," Cook said after a recent practice at South Middle School. "It's been a great help to them. I can already see the difference in their skill level. I just hope we can keep coming and keep helping them."

The varsity players have been teaching the modified teams about playing man-to-man defense, breaking the press and improving their shooting form.

Serving as teachers has helped the members of the varsity team reflect on what they can do to get better, and it's resulted in better play on game days. Since starting to work with the modified teams, Newburgh has won five straight.

"It does help because we see what our coach talks about and how hard it is," said senior forward Taylor Brummell, whose father is an assistant coach at Mount Saint Mary College. "It gives us a better understanding of what he's trying to explain."

"I feel like we've actually been a little more cooperative at practice because we understand how, even though they're good kids, it's frustrating a little bit when you try to get a point across," said point guard Katie Cook. "So we've been more eager to learn and it has helped a lot. We just had a big win and it is in part because of this. We've all come together because of this."

Katie Cook, in her first season playing point guard, has averaged 10.7 points, 7.0 assists and 5.1 rebounds. As a sophomore, she also realizes that one day, one of the eighth-grade players she's working with today could be a sophomore on varsity during Cook's senior season.

"I explained that to them and they were like, 'Really?' " Katie Cook said. "I think that's helped us grow a little closer and now it's easier to help them out."

For Desiderio, it's also about making connections with South Middle School modified coaches Henry Costabel and Jim Dougan, explaining to them what he expects players should be capable of by the time they reach varsity.

Desiderio has also reached out to former Newburgh boys' varsity coach Frank Dinnocenzio, who has helped in a consulting role at girls' varsity practices.

Most of all, Desiderio has made his own players better by having them think like coaches, even if they are working with middle-schoolers.

"You feel like you've been in coach's shoes," Emily Cook said. "Coaching them has brought us together a little more."